D-League Basketball: Warriors streaking into postseason

Warriors forward LaDontae Henton looks for an opening in the Los Angeles defenses during the first quarter at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz on Friday. (Kevin Johnson -- Santa Cruz Sentinel)

The Score

Warriors 127, D-Fenders 117

Up Next: Western Conference playoffs, TBA at Warriors

When: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Kaiser Permanente Arena, Santa Cruz

TV: ESPNU

Online: Watch ESPN

Tickets: Online at santacruzbasketball.com

Santa Cruz >> Casey Hill provided the political answer when asked during Thursday’s practice which opponent he’d like to face in the first round of the upcoming D-League playoffs, opting to highlight both potential teams’ strengths rather than their weaknesses.

The truth is, it might not matter which team Santa Cruz squares off against in either the first or second round. The Warriors are playing better than anyone in the Western Conference, at the moment.

Friday’s regular-season finale against visiting Los Angeles proved as much. With a playoff spot already in hand, and Hill spreading the minutes evenly across 11 players, the Warriors steamrolled the D-Fenders early and cruised late in their 127-117 victory at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

Playoff Picture

Western Conference-Record (Games Behind-Games Remaining)

1. Los Angeles-33-16 (0-1

2. Oklahoma City-33-16 (0-1)

3. Rio Grande Valley-31-18 (2-1)

4. Santa Cruz-31-19 (2½-0)

Golden State Warriors rookie Damian Jones delivered a season-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting, LaDontae Henton provided a double-double effort off the bench, and Santa Cruz is entering postseason play having won six games in a row and 12 of its last 14.

Backing into the playoffs, the Warriors are not.

“Being prepared, I have confidence in my assistant coaches and myself that we’re going to have the right game plan for whoever we play,” Hill said. “It’s just about executing that for 48 minutes.

“And I just told them in the locker room, this is going to be the toughest six games you’ve ever played, a lot of you guys. A lot of you rookies, this is going to be real. And you’ve got to get prepared for it.”

The Warriors’ first-round playoff opponent remains somewhat of a mystery, still. They will host either Los Angeles or Oklahoma City in Game 1 on Wednesday. That they know.

Their seeding is up in the air.

Santa Cruz (31-19) currently holds the No. 4 seed but is just a half-game back of No. 3 Rio Grande Valley (31-18). The Vipers play Iowa (12-37) on Saturday to cap their regular season.

An RGV loss would move Santa Cruz into the No. 3 spot, a result of the Warriors owning the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The race between the No. 1 and 2 seeds is also up in the air. Friday’s loss moves Los Angeles (33-16) into a tie with Oklahoma City (33-16) for the top spot. The D-Fenders will host Salt Lake City (14-35) on Saturday, while the Blue will welcome Texas (25-24).

For the Warriors, it’s wait and see.

“That wasn’t the team we’ll see in the playoffs, if we play them in the playoffs,” Hill said of Los Angeles. “They need to understand that, too.”

The theory that had Santa Cruz lost it would likely be playing Los Angeles again in the first round — a team it has beaten twice in a row now — was given no thought by Hill.

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“You’ve got to practice winning habits,” he said.

“I want to keep our edge and stay focused,” he added.

Jones has progressively improved throughout the season, but his play of late — with so many big men sidelined — has provided a much-needed boost for Santa Cruz. Seven-foot-1 center Dennis Clifford remained inactive with an ankle injury, while Chris Obekpa played limited minutes as he returns from a knee injury.

“I feel like I had more on me tonight ...” said Jones, who played a team-high 31 minutes . “It’s been good, getting in better shape. Hey, I’ll take it.”

Jones wasn’t sure of his upcoming schedule, whether he’ll be recalled by Golden State in the coming days.

He had 10 points in a dominant first quarter, in which the Warriors couldn’t have looked better. Santa Cruz jumped out to a 24-point lead on the D-Fenders, whose defense was lacking early on as Santa Cruz shot better than 62 percent from the field.

“His progression this year has just been awesome,” Hill said of Jones, whose previous season-high was 23 points set on March 23 against Austin.

The lead blossomed to 27 early in the second quarter when complacency — and, more specifically, sloppy passing — became an issue for the Warriors. Los Angeles went on a 10-2 run just before halftime as a result, with Travis Wear’s dunk at the buzzer swinging some momentum in the D-Fenders’ favor — even though they trailed 63-51 at the break.

Three times Los Angeles cut the deficit to seven points in the third quarter. But Santa Cruz — led by Cleanthony Early — closed on a 7-0 run to ensure the fourth quarter lacked much excitement.

Early, who suffered a groin injury and had played once since March 12 at Iowa, registered 19 points off the bench in 21 minutes. Henton had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Jabari Brown came off the bench to provide 21 points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.

Troy DeVries had a team-high 24 points for Los Angeles, which never truly threatened Santa Cruz in the second half despite taking a whopping 32 more shot attempts.

Los Angeles had 20 offensive rebounds.

“Some of our coverages put us in a vulnerable position for defensive rebounding,” Hill said. “And it’s just something we’ve got to continue to show film on and make sure our guys are good on.”